Chapter 6
Lecture 1
6:1 In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne exalted and elevated: and the house was filled with his majesty, and what was beneath him filled the temple.
6:2 Upon it stood the seraphim: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew.
6:3 And they cried one to another, and said: holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory,
6:4 And the lintels of the hinges were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
6:5 And I said: woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts.
6:6 And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar.
6:7 And he touched my mouth, and said: behold this has touched your lips, and your iniquities shall be taken away, and your sin shall be cleansed.
204 . In the year that king Ozias died . After he denounces the fault of the two tribes, adding the corrective punishment, here he threatens the punishment of final condemnation, namely, the punishment of hardness of heart; and therefore that punishment is foretold in the manner of a sentence and with the solemnity of a judgment. Therefore, this chapter is divided into three parts:
in the first, the author of the sentence is described, namely, the judge;
in the second, the one who announces the sentence, the minister of the judge, where it says, and I said: woe is me (Isa 6:5);
in the third, the sentence itself is set out, where it says, hearing, hear (Isa 6:9).
Concerning the first, two things are set out:
first, the time of the vision;
second, the vision itself, where it says, I saw the Lord sitting .
205 . As to the first, he says: in the year that king Ozias died . Ozias, who is called Azaraias in 2 Kings 15:5, was struck with leprosy by the Lord because he wanted to usurp the priestly office, as it says in 2 Chronicles 26:21; but after he was struck, his son Joatham governed the house of the king and the kingdom until his death; but nevertheless, he is not said to have reigned then, but rather to have been the vice-regent of his father; but then he first reigned when his father died. Thus this vision was revealed when Joatham reigned, and the preceding vision, when Ozias reigned.
206 . I saw the Lord sitting . Here the vision is set out.
And first, he describes the throne of the judge;
second, the ministry of his assistants where it says, upon it stood the seraphim (Isa 6:2).
Now this vision is said by some to have been imaginary, by others to have been intellectual. And thus the figure is taken up by the prophet himself from something similar, as Dionysius says, in his letter to Titus, that figures are placed around things which the prophets see plainly and without figures in order to guide those who hear the prophecy, who can more easily receive what the prophet has seen plainly through sensible figures. But however it may be, it is necessary to see two things here.
First, the imagination of the figure, either seen by the prophet or composed by him;
second, the signification of this figure: for sensible figures are introduced in Holy Scripture to signify something spiritually, as Dionysius says, and that will be the literal sense, just as in metaphorical speech the literal sense is not that which is signified by the words, but that which the speaker wishes to signify by the words.
207 . Concerning the first, therefore, it should be known that the temple built by Solomon was one-hundred-twenty cubits in height, as is said in 2 Chronicles 3:3–4, and this height was divided into three houses, the highest of which was sixty cubits, while both lower ones were thirty cubits. And of these is said in 1 Kings 6:8: by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the middle to the third . Therefore, he saw the throne of the Lord in the highest room, because of which is said, exalted , that is, high, as it is elevated , above all rooms; and the middle room shines from the brightness of his face, because of which is said, the house was filled with his majesty , that is, his glory; and what was beneath him , that is, the adornments of his throne or also the splendor of his garments, or the ranks of his subjects, filled the lower room, in which the priests entered: because of which he says, the temple .
Others say otherwise, that he saw the high throne in the middle room, which is called the house, which was filled with the middle members and arms of the Lord; the lower room, which is called the temple was filled with his feet and legs, but his head and neck stuck up into the third story: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left (1 Kgs 22:19); the king, that sits on the throne of judgment, scatters away all evil with his look (Prov 20:8).
208 . Concerning the second, it should be known that the signification of this vision is assigned in three ways by various interpreters.
For some say that the sitting on the throne signifies the coming oppression of their captivity; the filling of the house with majesty signifies that their enemies, who were under his direction, were to fill the temple; and the Histories touch on this.
Jerome, however, explains, and better, that the seat signifies the majesty of the son of God, because of which it is said in John 12:41: these things said Isaiah, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him ; the throne signifies the angels, on whom God sits: you that sit upon the cherubims (Ps 79:2[80:1]); the house signifies the Church triumphant, which is full of his glory; the temple signifies the Church militant, which is full of miracles, or the ranks of angels, like guards.
Dionysius explains this otherwise in the Celestial Hierarchy 13.4, and better, as it seems. The throne signifies eminence of the divine nature, and it is called exalted , because of its nobility, elevated , as if raised above others, insofar as it exceeds all things infinitely; and he is said to sit in this because of his immovability; hence Dionysius says in the Divine Names 9.8: what also do we say concerning the divine standing other than that he remains in himself singularly fixed in immovable identity? And the house is said to signify all creation, which is full of his majesty, insofar as it is filled according to its capacity by participation in his goodness; and by the temple he seems to understand the superior creatures, which are filled by those things which are beneath him inasmuch as goods received in them fall short of the goodness of God, which they nevertheless seem to approach.
209 . On the contrary, it is objected that, according to Exodus 33:20: for man shall not see me, and live , that is, living in this mortal flesh; and 1 John 4:12: no man has seen God at any time . Therefore, neither did Isaiah see God.
To which is to be said that neither interior nor exterior vision is able to see unless it is moved by the visible object; and insofar as it is more perfectly changed by the visible object, it sees better; and then it sees most perfectly when it receives the action of the visible object according to its whole power: and hence it occurs that the same thing is seen differently by different persons, both interiorly and exteriorly, and better by some, and worse by others.
Therefore, nothing can see this visible object, which is God, perfectly, except what grasps it whole, and therefore God alone sees himself thus. Hence, according to Chrysostom, the heavenly secret is not seen in its essence without medium by some men who attain to it according to the perfection which they have from the divine light they have received, as by the blessed in heaven and by those who are elevated by rapture to that mode of vision. By those, however, who have a less perfect vision, God is seen according to certain similitudes of his goodness, whether in sensible things or images, or intelligible species: and of this kind is the vision which the prophets saw by the light of prophecy, and which we see by faith, and which is seen by the light of reason and even by philosophers, who know God, as is said in Romans 1:19–20.
210 . But then the question remains whether the prophets perceived such a vision immediately from God, or by the mediation of angels. And it seems that it was immediately from his very manner of speaking, for he says, I saw the Lord , and not, I saw an angel. Likewise, of Moses, Exodus 33:11 says, the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend . Likewise, they saw in the mirror of eternity, as is commonly said: therefore some men have seen God.
To which is to be said, according to Dionysius in the Celestial Hierarchy 4.3, that no mere man, neither of the fathers of the New nor the Old Testament, received any revelation from God except by the mediation of angels. And he says that it is an inviolable law that the middle should be restored through the first [and] the lower [through the middle]; and he proves this by an argument from the greater, for even Moses received the law through the mediation of angels, though he saw most excellently; which is proved by that which is said in Galatians 3:19: why then was the law? It was set because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom he made the promise, being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator , and Acts 7:53: who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it .
211 . To the first, therefore, is to be said that this reason can be on the part of the end of the vision and on the part of the principle.
On the part of the end, because the revealing angel intends to lead man to knowledge of God, and not to knowledge of himself: and therefore he forms a vision of God, just as out of things which are seen figuratively, something of God is understood.
On the part of the principle, however, because all power which angelic light has to manifest something comes from God as its author, who is the font of light, just as in matters of demonstration all power of light or manifestation comes from first principles. Hence Gregory, in the Gloss on Exodus 3 says: the angel who is described as having appeared to Moses is sometimes reported as the Lord, sometimes as an angel. An angel, because he serves in speaking outwardly; the Lord, because inwardly the director gives the efficacy of speaking. For since the speaker is directed from within, he is recounted both as an angel from his subservience, and as the Lord from his inspiration .
212 . To the second is to be said that this is said because of the eminent manner of clear vision by which Moses, above all the prophets, saw, as is said in Numbers 12:6–8.
213 . To the third is to be said that God himself is not called the mirror of eternity, but those species which are in the soul of the prophet; and they are called a mirror insofar as the disposition of eternal wisdom is reflected in them.
214 . Stood the seraphim . Here he sets out the office of the ministers.
And first, he describes the order of the ministers;
second, their praise, and they cried one to another, and said: holy (Isa 6:3).
Concerning the first, he sets out three things.
First, he sets out the grade of the ministers, saying: upon it , namely the temple, stood the seraphim , because the order of seraphim is supreme among all, as Dionysius says in the Gloss here.
Likewise note that “seraphim,” written with an “m,” is plural in number and masculine in gender and signifies many in that order; written with an “n,” however, it is neuter in gender and signifies the whole rank of this order; but “seraph” is singular in number and masculine in gender and signifies only one member of this order. Below: upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, and all the night, they shall never hold their peace (Isa 62:6). And he says they stood , upright in contemplation as if assisting.
Second, he sets out the adornment of the ministers, in the number six of their wings: six wings .
Third, the use of their wings: with two they covered his face . In Hebrew, this is said ambiguously, and it can be explained that they covered the face of God, and thus Jerome understands it; or that they cover their own face, and thus Dionysius understands it, according to whom the sense is that their head was covered and their feet and the middle of their body, with two they flew , namely, the middle two: every one with two wings covered his body (Ezek 1:23), and below this: and I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters (Ezek 1:24).
215 . The signification of this vision is understood in three ways.
The Hebrew says that by the twelve wings are understood the twelve kings who were over the people from Ozias, under whom the vision began, and following; only four of whom were just, namely Ozias, Joatham, Ezechias and Josias: and therefore they flew with four wings. The others, however, were ashamed in the sight of God, and therefore they covered their face; four of these possessed the kingdom freely, namely, Achaz, Manasses, Amon and Joatham, because they were made kings by the people; and these are signified by the wings which were on the head. The other four, in truth, possessed the kingdom under the servitude of others; hence also they were made kings by others and not by the people, as Joachin, made king by Pharaoh, Jechonias and Sedecias and Godolias, about whom Jeremiah 41:2 says: Ismahel and the ten men that were with him slew Godolias whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land . For these last three were made king by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
216 . Jerome says that the seraphim are said to be winged either because they dwell above or because of the swiftness of their ministry; and he understands by the twelve wings the ministry of perfection, which is betokened in the number twelve, as the twelve gems in the crown of the priest, and thus concerning the others. And with two they fly , because they conceal from us those things which were before the world or after the world, and they show the things that happen in the six ages of the world; or because the past and the future are unknown to us, but we know the present: so thus this refers to the act of their ministry, and they stand , in order to assist God.
217 . Dionysius explains this otherwise in the Celestial Hierarchy 13 and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 4, and he says that they are said to be winged because, similar to something that flies, they have deep and free contemplation. Three pairs of wings are described, moreover, because the seraphim see those things which pertain to themselves, who are of the first hierarchy, and those things which pertain to the other two hierarchies more eminently than they who belong to them: so that by one wing is understood their natural capacity, and by the other, the light from God which they participate in, for by these two things they are elevated.
Now those things which pertain to the hierarchies come from God as from a beginning and are ordered to God as to an end, and by neither manner can they be perfectly understood by the angels: which the veiling signifies. And they are also in themselves like a medium between the beginning and end, and they have perfect and free knowledge of them in this way, and therefore with the two middle wings they flew.
218 . And they cried one to another . Here he sets out their praise: and concerning this, he does three things.
First, he sets out the manner of praising as to their devotion, for they cried from the greatness of their affection; as to their concord, for both cry out; and as to their order, for they cry out one to another : for one receives from the other, as Dionysius holds. Where were you . . . when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody? (Job 38:4, 7).
219 . Second, he sets out their song of praise, where it says, holy, holy, holy . And they praise three things: the Trinity of persons: holy, holy, holy ; the unity of majesty: the Lord God of hosts , who is before all things: holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, who was and who is and who is to come (Rev 4:8); the liberality of his providence: all the earth is full of his glory , for he also extends the diffusion of his goodness to the last creature, which is understood by the earth: do not I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord? (Jer 23:24). And this is according to Dionysius in the Celestial Hierarchy 7.4. Jerome: all the earth is full , through the knowledge of faith. Sirach 42:16–17: full of the glory of the Lord is his work. Has not the Lord made the saints to declare all his wonderful works, which the Lord almighty has firmly settled to be established for his glory?
220 . Third, where it says, and the lintels , he sets out the effect of their praise, namely, the punishment of sinners, below: behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty . . . Behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit (Isa 65:13–14). And the destruction of the temple is signified: the lintels of the hinges were moved : strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shook (Amos 9:1); and the burning of the temple: and the house was filled with smoke of burning by the Romans after the faith of Christ was known. Or by smoke the infidelity of the Jews is signified; by the movement of the hinges, the removal of their legal observances or ceremonies, which were like shadows enclosing the entrance to the truth.
221 . And I said . Here the announcer of the sentence is set out.
And first, his humility is shown;
second, his purity: and one of the seraphim flew to me (Isa 6:6);
third, his authority: and I heard (Isa 6:8).
His humility shown in confession of sin. And he confesses a threefold sin.
In his speech, sin of omission: woe is me, because I have held my peace , in not denouncing Ozias the king, and thus he laments the fault; I have held my peace , from praising God, and thus he laments the harm, below: his watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams (Isa 56:10). Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner (Sir 15:9); sin of commission: because I am a man of unclean lips : let not your mouth be accustomed to indiscreet speech: for therein is the word of sin (Sir 23:17[13]).
Second, the sin of association with wicked men: and I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips : evil communications corrupt good manners (1 Cor 15:33).
Third, the sin of presumption: I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts , as if to say: he who is impure cannot enter the Lord’s temple; how much more can he not see the Lord himself? We shall certainly die, because we have seen God (Judg 13:22); and this was from reverence. But Jacob said: I have seen the Lord face to face, and my soul has been saved (Gen 32:30); and this is from confidence. Jerome: happy conscience which has sinned in speech, not by his own vice, but only of a people that has unclean lips .
222 . And one of the seraphim flew to me . Here he shows his purity from the cleansing of his sins. And concerning this he sets out three things.
The minister of the cleansing: one of the seraphim flew to me .
The instrument of cleansing: and in his hand was a live coal . . . off the altar of holocausts. The inner altar was made of earth as is said in Exodus 20:24: you shall make an altar of earth unto me ; all around, however, was made of stone, where the fires of sacrifice were assembled; from these he took the coal. With the tongs , that is, with an instrument having two arms, by which receptive virtue may be signified, and by the altar , divine light itself or goodness, and by the coal , the gift received for the office of cleansing. Or by the fire tribulation may be signified; by the seraphim , Christ; by the tongs , the two testaments; by the coal , charity, which is in his hand, that is, his works.
Third, the manner of cleansing: and he touched my mouth, and said , just as in the sacraments there is an action and a form of words; behold this has touched your lips , he expresses the act, and your iniquities , against men, shall be taken away, and your sin , against God. And he does not say, “I shall take away,” for to forgive sins belongs to God alone, below: I am he that blot out your iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins (Isa 43:25). Concerning all these things, Daniel 9:21–22 says: behold the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice. And he instructed me, and spoke to me .
223 . But against this it is objected that Dionysius says, that those who belong to the higher orders are not sent in service; but it is certain that the seraphim are the highest; therefore it does not seem true that they came to cleanse the prophet.
To which is to be said that Gregory touches on this question in a certain homily concerning the hundred sheep, and he leaves it in doubt. Dionysius, however, expressly holds that only the inferior orders are sent to us; and he says this is by the order of divine law that lower things are restored through the middle. But he explains what is said here in two ways. In one way, he says that this cleansing angel is called a seraph equivocally, not from his order, but from the act which he was then carrying out, because he cleansed with fire, and “seraph” means “fire”; in another way, he explains it saying that he is called a seraph properly because he is of this order, and he is said to cleanse, not because he himself immediately cleanses, but because by his authority, or by an illumination received from him, a lower angel cleansed; and he gives an example: it is just as a bishop is said to absolve when another absolves by his authority. And therefore because of reverence, the lower angel, who formed the vision, restores to God first, and to the seraph second, as if he were saying: “I cleanse you by light received from God, by the mediation of a seraph.” In verse 6, instead of live coal , the Septuagint has carbuncle , because of their similarity to fire, for they have a flaming color.
Lecture 2
6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: whom shall I send? And who shall go for us? And I said: lo, here am I, send me.
6:9 And he said: go, and you shall say to this people: hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not.
6:10 Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.
6:11 And I said: how long, O Lord? And he said: until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate.
6:12 And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the land.
6:13 And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn, and shall be made a show as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that spreads its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy seed.
224 . And I heard the voice of the Lord . Here the authority of the minister is shown from his charge of office, and concerning this he does three things.
First, the consent of the one to be sent is sought; hence he says, whom shall I send , in which the authority on the part of the sender is noted: and how shall they preach unless they be sent? (Rom 10:15). And who shall go? The will of the one who is sent, for us , acquisitively, that he may not seek vain honor and may not seek profit; conversely: for all seek the things that are their own not the things that are Jesus Christ’s (Phil 2:21). I send , in which the unity of essence is noted, for us , in which the plurality of persons is noted.
225 . Second, the subservience offered by the prophet is set out: and I said: lo, here am I, send me , below: and I do not resist: I have not gone back (Isa 50:5).
But it seems that this would be presumptuous, because Moses declined his office: who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Exod 3:11); and I said: ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child (Jer 1:6).
And to this is to be said, as Gregory says in his Book of Pastoral Rule (and in the Gloss at the beginning of Jeremiah): each arose from the root of charity: for the one [Jeremiah] for the love of God did not wish to lose the solace of contemplation; the other [Isaiah] for the love of neighbor wished to be sent that he might be useful; and nevertheless, the one did not decline the command pertinaciously, nor did the other offer himself until he was cleansed and sought for .
226 . Third, the office is enjoined on him; as to the double act he foretells to discuss: and he said: go : behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matt 10:16); and you shall say to this people : and you will separate the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth (Jer 15:19).
227 . Hearing, hear . Here the sentence is set out.
And first, the sentence of hardness of heart is set out; he does not, however, harden hearts by sending malice into them, but by not imparting grace, and this is because they do not wish to be converted to grace.
Second, the length of the sentence is sought, where it says, and I said: how long, O Lord? (Isa 6:11).
Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, the pronouncement of the sentence by the Lord is set out, as to the two senses that produce knowledge: namely hearing, which serves instruction; hence he says hear , with the outer ears, hearing , Christ, or another who preaches, and understand not , as if to say: because you do not wish it, you do not understand. This is permissive. And as to sight, which serves discovery: and see the vision , Christ, corporeally, or the mighty works of God; and know it not ; this is permissive and not imperative, below: who is blind, but my servant? (Isa 42:19).
228 . Second, the acceptance of the sentence is set out. And these are the words of prophet; hence he says: O Lord, from that by which the Gentiles shall come in, strike Israel with blindness (Rom 11:25): blind the heart , inwardly, and make their ears heavy , lest they perceive, and shut their eyes , lest they understand: for judgment I am come into this world: that they who see not may see; and they who see may become blind (John 9:39). Or these are the words of the Lord, and the sense is: blind , that is, proclaim them blind.
Third, the reason for their blindness is set out: lest , for the sake of goods, they be converted and I heal them , when they are unworthy of health: but if the wicked do penance for all his sins which he has committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities (Ezek 18:21–22), below: if you return and be quiet, you shall be saved (Isa 30:15).
229 . And I said . Here the length of the sentence is set out.
And first, the question of the prophet is set out: how long will they be blinded? How long shall the vision . . . be trodden under foot? (Dan 8:13);
second, the answer of the Lord: and he said .
And a twofold ending is set out:
first, as to the punishment of the wicked,
second as to the holiness of the good, where it says, a holy seed (Isa 6:13), as if to say: how long will those who are in filth be filthy? He that hurts, let him hurt still: and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still (Rev 22:11).
And he touches on a threefold punishment.
First, as to subjugation, which is designated in the desolation of their cities: until the cities be wasted : they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness (Jer 12:10); he has made me desolate, wasted with sorrow all the day long (Lam 1:13); as to the cultivation of their fields: the land shall be left desolate , above: your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire (Isa 1:7); as to the exile of men: and the Lord shall remove men far away : and I will send you, and your mother that bore you, into a strange country, in which you were not born, and there you shall die (Jer 22:26). And I will pick out from among you the transgressors, and the wicked, and will bring them out of the land where they sojourn (Ezek 20:38).
230 . Second, as to the length of their captivity: and she shall be multiplied , that people, that was left in the midst of the land , in which she will be held captive: thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, to all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: build houses, and dwell in them (Jer 29:4–5), and below this: and be multiplied there, and be not few in number. And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be carried away (Jer 29:6–7).
231 . Third, as to repeated persecution:
and first, he places their small number: and there shall be still a tithing therein , that is, barely a tenth will be left by Titus in the land of Judea, or in the whole world, because of the Jews killed: and you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude (Deut 28:62);
second, repeated destruction: and she shall turn , again subjugation shall overcome you, under the emperor Hadrian, above: for after this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still (Isa 5:25);
third, their baseness and contempt or dispersion: and shall be made a show , of derision, as a turpentine tree ; a certain tree, which is large in the regions of Damascus and small in Greece, and as an oak that spreads its branches : in which their dispersion is signified: I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree (Sir 24:22).
232 . A holy seed . Here he sets out the ending as to the holiness of the good. Hence he says: a holy seed , that is, of grown men, who obey the divine vision, and of other saints of the Jews; which shall stand , not falling through infidelity, below: for as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, says the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name (Isa 66:22).
Others explain this to their good: and she shall be multiplied (Isa 6:12), after her return from captivity, in the midst of her own land (Isa 6:13); and there shall be still a tithing therein , who will be left for the worship of God after the murder of many, and she shall turn , to God, and shall be made a show , of glory.